Farewell to "The Legend" . . . Not So Much--The End of the Roy Williams Era In Dallas

In 2009, during the Dallas Cowboys 17-7 loss to the Green Bay Packers, Tony Romo overthrew a deep out to Roy Williams along the sideline.  He didn’t overthrow it by much, as I’m pretty sure it grazed off Williams’ outstretched hands before landing harmlessly out of bounds.  For me, what happened next defined Roy William’s tenure in Big D.  He looked back at Romo, and holding his hands in the pass-catching triangle shape, moved them down over his chest.  It’s was almost as if he was saying, “Hey, I know I’m 6’-3’’ and have hands the size of stop signs, but, if you want me to catch a pass, you really need to put it right here between the numbers.  Otherwise, I’m afraid I cannot help you.”  That’s who Roy Williams is.  And that’s why the Cowboys are glad to be shot of him.

Of course, what makes Williams’ unremarkable 35 games with the Cowboys—94 catches/1,324 yards/13 TDs or numbers elite NFL WRs put up in a single season—so offensive is the head-slappingly ridiculous trade they executed to acquire him.  As the 2008 trade deadline approached, the Cowboys sent the Detroit Lions their first-, third- and six-rounds picks in the 2009 draft and their 2010 seventh-round pick in exchange for a malcontent who was dubbed “The Legend” at  Permian High School of Friday Night Lights fame.  As ludicrous as that deal sounds, it’s actually much worse.  Because Williams was moping through last year of his contract, the Cowboys actually traded all those picks for a 10-game rental of Williams.  So, to compound their original error, the Cowboys inked Williams to a five-year $45M dollar deal with $20M guaranteed.  Sure, if Dallas waited until he was a free agent, they could have snapped up the University of Texas alum without having to sacrifice a raft of picks, but, according to J.R. Ewing Jerry Jones, they needed him for the 2008 season, son.  True to form, Williams repaid the ‘Boys by becoming invisible for rest of year (10/198/1).  In 2009, he was marginally better, but still only adequate, at best.  For example, in that season, Football Outsiders ranked him as the 59th best WR in the league, who was good for only about 40 yards over a replacement level player.  After another year of underachievement in 2010, the Cowboys had finally had enough.  As forgettable as Williams’ time with the Cowboys was, the lessons of his ill-advised acquisition deserved to be remembered.  Eventually, even J.R. learned from his mistakes, so let’s hope Williams’ release is a sign that Jerry Jones is capable of doing the same.